


Lightning in Both Hands

by shinykari (meinterrupted)



Category: Captain Marvel (Marvel), Marvel 616
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Community: trope_bingo, F/F, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 17:25:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meinterrupted/pseuds/shinykari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Jess narrowed her eyes. "That better not be the swill you cops call coffee," she said, stripping off her paper apron and latex gloves, "or you'll find yourself on one of my tables."</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightning in Both Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Trope Bingo (au: cop/detective) and Femlash Friday. Title from "Natural Disaster" by Zac Brown Band. All mistakes are mine.

The muted click of Carol Danvers' shoes echoed down the nearly silent hallway of the morgue, followed quickly by the woman herself. "I brought coffee, Dr. Drew," she said, holding up a large paper cup.

Jess narrowed her eyes. "That better not be the swill you cops call coffee," she said, stripping off her paper apron and latex gloves, "or you'll find yourself on one of my tables."

Danvers grinned and held the cup out for Jess to take. "I would never be so stupid as to get between a medical examiner and her coffee. I got it from your favorite little cafe."

"Mmmm, yes," Jess said, inhaling the deliciously warm fumes. "I suppose I'll let you live another day, Captain."

"I appreciate your magnanimity, Your Highness," Danvers said with a bow, her blond hair falling to cover her face.

"You didn't just bring me caffeine out of the goodness of your heart, Carol," Jess pointed out. "What do you want?"

Carol straightened, her expression sober, with none of the soft amusement of before. "There's another victim."

Jess felt her heart drop into her stomach. "Same M.O.?" she asked, hoping against hope. Carol wouldn't be down in her morgue if it wasn't.

"I'm afraid so," she said.

Jess turned away, setting her coffee on the corner of her desk, and walked toward the whiteboard she'd set up six months ago. Over that time period, she'd filled the space with four photos of smiling women, all perfectly made-up and coiffed, and their accompanying autopsy photos, which were grisly, even for a seasoned medical examiner. Their vocal cords had been removed ante-mortem with surgical precision, the attacker carefully avoiding hitting any of the major blood vessels that ran through the neck. The women had all bled out slowly, taking between ten and fifteen minutes to die, all that time in excruciating pain, yet unable to speak or cry out for help, before their corpses were further mutilated by their murderer.

And now there was a fifth.

"Who is she?" Jess asked, touching the corner of Gwendolyn Stacey's headshot. Stacey had been the first victim, an outspoken Democratic state representative with a bright political future. She and Carol had met her at a fundraiser once; Jess remembered her as being bubbly and quick-witted, and passionate about women's issues and the gay community. Jess had liked her very much.

"Maria Hill."

Jess spun around to stare at Carol, her mouth gaping. "The Lt. Governor? How the bloody hell did he get to her?"

"We don't know for sure," she said, her jaw set. "But she's had round-the-clock police protection, so my bet's on an inside job. Which is why I'm here, actually. I--" She trailed off and looked away. "The Governor is asking the FBI for help. He wants their people to do the autopsy, and I thought you would appreciate hearing it from me."

"They're taking this case away from me, is what you're saying," Jess spat.

"Jess--"

"Don't 'Jess' me, like you have some right," she said through gritted teeth. "This is my case, Carol, _mine_. I was the one who made the connection between Stacey's and Emma Frost's deaths. I was the one who realized what this sick fuck was doing. I was the one who warned Hill to be careful! And now they're taking it away from me? I've put so much into this case, lost so much--"

Suddenly Carol was close--so close, too close. "No, Jess, they're not taking it away from you," she murmured. "They're freeing you to start looking for clues outside the lab."

Jess blinked and met Carol's blue eyes. "I can't do it alone," she admitted, her voice breaking.

"Good thing you have me, then," Carol said, her grin almost feral. "I'm not letting you leave me again. Never again, baby. I promise."


End file.
